When you're not feeling it

loggerhead12

loggerhead12

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
We all know there are times when your game is on, and the other times when you have to try to gut it out with C- material. Confidence is everything - if you pull off one shot the way you intended, that C- can go to A really fast and stay there. (I needed it last night and it never came - lucked out an 8-ball win, lucked out a 9-ball loss.)

We watch turnarounds all the time. Athletes and game players of all kinds have sudden, dramatic improvements in the middle of a contest. We call it catching a gear, getting your second wind, getting on track. A quarterback throws five interceptions, then leads a last-minute drive to win the game. A golfer 6 shots back at the turn of the fourth round goes on a streak to win.

If you could bottle that moment, you could elevate your game. So what's your go-to move, stroke thought, pre-shot routine, stroke/stance/grip modification, or whatever that help you get back on track?
 
Rather than being exactly mental I think the issue is emotional. Emotional temperature can be controlled by breathing. After over fifty years of competition I know I don't perform well too flatfooted or two jacked up. That usually affects breathing but it is a loop, breathing affects emotion too.

Hu
 
loggerhead12 said:
We all know there are times when your game is on, and the other times when you have to try to gut it out with C- material. Confidence is everything - if you pull off one shot the way you intended, that C- can go to A really fast and stay there. (I needed it last night and it never came - lucked out an 8-ball win, lucked out a 9-ball loss.)

We watch turnarounds all the time. Athletes and game players of all kinds have sudden, dramatic improvements in the middle of a contest. We call it catching a gear, getting your second wind, getting on track. A quarterback throws five interceptions, then leads a last-minute drive to win the game. A golfer 6 shots back at the turn of the fourth round goes on a streak to win.

If you could bottle that moment, you could elevate your game. So what's your go-to move, stroke thought, pre-shot routine, stroke/stance/grip modification, or whatever that help you get back on track?
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Read two books:

The inner game of tennis

Sports psyching.

Both give insights as to why different people compete. Both give tools to help get to and stay at a higher level.
 
I know that feeling well!

When I run into that I try to do two things. First, focus on the fundamentals...pre shot routine, smooth stroke, stay down on the shot, etc. And second, I accept that I'm not playing my best in this moment and I adjust my approach. I try to simplify my game, try to do "less" with the cue ball while still getting the job done, look for opportunities to make a shot and then play safe maybe if I'm not having confidence in getting out, things like that.

I've found that accepting that I'm a little off and trying to play down to that level can help me make a few balls and if I can do that the confidence can start to come back and things can turn around.

Doesn't always work, I don't think anything will always work, but it's definitely helped me at times.
 
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I second it being more emotional than mental.
If i can, i start by walking away for a bit. Get some air, clear my head.
Physically speaking when I'm inexplicably struggling (missing easy shots) it's my eyes and drops fix it. Had that last night. Eyes were dry and vision wasn't good. Drops and chugging some water. Thanks to my optometrist for that advice.
 
This is what was in my head last night:

Roy:
You're the Mexican Mac O'Grady. Figure out why I'm shanking...I'm catching it on the hosel? Moving my head? I'm laying it off?

Romeo:
That, too.

Roy:
I'm pronating.

Romeo:
When you're not supinating.

Roy:
I'm clearing too early, too late. My swing feels like an unfolding chair!

Romeo:
Put your change in your left pocket. Go on, do it. Now, tie your left shoe in a double knot.

Roy:
Tie my left shoe?

Romeo:
Right now, do it! Turn the hat backwards. Turn your hat around. Do it, Roy! Take this tee and stick it behind your left ear.

Roy:
I look like a fool!

Romeo:
What do you think you look like shooting chili peppers up Lee Janzen's ass? Do it now or I'm going to quit. I swear to God I'll quit. Good. Take this ball and hit it up the fairway.

[hits the ball straight]
 
Break it down, put it up, ease your brain. All things are transitory. As we used to say in the '70s -- "Go with the flow". Trying to fight a trend is usually futile and just tends to mire one deeper. "Never try to play your way out of a losing streak" is some of the best advice I have ever gotten or given.
 
loggerhead12 said:
So what's your go-to move, stroke thought, pre-shot routine, stroke/stance/grip modification, or whatever that help you get back on track?
Click to expand...
'Off' can be a combo of mental and physical. Usually leaning on my process and going through my psr rights the ship. All those psr components are in there for good reason and some help the physical while others take care of the mental, so use them. Starting to tinker at the table and getting very internally-focused, paying attention to how you are stroking rather than the shot you are executing, is a good way to go from bad to worse.
 
slide13 said:
And second, I accept that I'm not playing my best in this moment and I adjust my approach. I try to simplify my game, try to do "less" with the cue ball while still getting the job done, look for opportunities to make a shot and then play safe maybe if I'm not having confidence in getting out, things like that.
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That is a really honest approach. Maybe you don't need your A game, maybe you just need B+ or even B- with the right game plan.
 
loggerhead12 said:
That is a really honest approach. Maybe you don't need your A game, maybe you just need B+ or even B- with the right game plan.
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Yep, exactly!

And I find trying to play my A game when I don't have it can just lead to further frustration. Leaning into the B game and trying to make that work has been a better approach for me not only in overall results but also in providing a better chance for me to find that A level game again more quickly. Sometimes all it takes is a few simple well executed shots to get a bit of that confidence back and start building back to the A game.
 
Biloxi Boy said:
Break it down, put it up, ease your brain. All things are transitory. As we used to say in the '70s -- "Go with the flow". Trying to fight a trend is usually futile and just tends to mire one deeper. "Never try to play your way out of a losing streak" is some of the best advice I have ever gotten or given.
Click to expand...

I did my share towards wearing out a dozen or so Charlie Rich records on the jukebox.

Hu

 
I am the opposite of most of you. When I am not feeling it or left in a tough situation, I tell myself the pros do this so I can also.

Now if it's league night and playing a team that has little to no chance of winning I look at it and say fk it winning a game means more to them then me and I flail away.😉
 
Some days it's hard to shut my head up. That's when bad stuff happens on the table. I play best when I'm just out of my body/mind and in the zone. I'd imagine most feel this way. Generally I have 3 things going through my head at once, and that's fine when analyzing or just in day to day things. For a good pool game it's death.

I've been working on grooving or making two phases a habit. While up and checking stuff out its the first phase (can include PSR stuff). I just let the Laurel and Hardy bit play out in my head, no need to fight it. Once I am convinced against or with my own bullshit idea I approach the table, take a deep breath in through the nose and slowly out through the mouth. This is my "trigger" or "signal" to go into shooter mode/second phase. Let that poor sucker make whatever I demanded of him while up and daydreaming. If the "shooter" can keep his head clear and play by feel, maybe some breath work and shooting between heartbeats he will make the ball most of the time. If I really focus on feel, be it the shaft, the cloth, the air currents in the room it is much better. You can't really truly feel and think at the same time.

To put it another way, if you're thinking about taxes while making love it's probably not gonna feel as good. 🤣

I think if one could plan while up (use whatever insanity you need, be it aiming systems, diamonds, doing math, fractions, percentages, table tracks, visualization, singing happy birthday ;) etc... Next fully accept "the plan" then just shut your brain off, and execute the shot/plan (drool a bit if you must), one would be a better pool player.

Head talk of any kind while in shot execution mode is a SEVERE handicap. Be it good "oh I'm about to get out, this is a break and run" or bad "I just missed this shot 3 times I might as well take up crocheting" or indifferent "I like ham!" and you have a good chance to shoot sub-par. Pool is so simple. Plan, accept it, then shut off your head and execute. Thinking while down is a deadly trap. Don't fall for the bait children!

It might be simple, but it is very difficult to master whatever dumb shit you have going on in your mental game.
 
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